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Saturday, June 18, 2016

CBSA in Alberta intercepts guns, criminals, horses in May

Canada Border Services Agency - The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is pleased to share a sample of May highlights from its border crossings in southern Alberta, including the interception of two undeclared guns at Coutts:

On May 2, officers seized a restricted .44-calibre revolver while searching a pickup truck and cargo trailer. Herschel Box, 59, of Texas is charged on two counts under the Customs Act and two counts under the Criminal Code, and is scheduled to appear in Lethbridge Provincial Court on June 22.

On May 7, officers uncovered a .45-calibre pistol in an Arizona man’s sport utility vehicle. The gun was behind the driver’s seat in a silver briefcase, which also contained non-reported United States (U.S.) currency valued at more than CAN$23,000. The man paid a $1,000 penalty for failing to declare the handgun, which was seized with no terms of release, and paid a $250 penalty for the return of the undeclared currency. He was also refused entry for committing an offence upon entry.

The CBSA refused entry to foreign nationals for various reasons, including criminality:

At Coutts, officers turned away a group of five U.S. travellers who had extensive criminal records. Among their individual convictions were robbery, burglary of a vehicle, and aggravated sexual assault of a child.

At Carway, officers refused entry to a man convicted of false imprisonment and endangering an aircraft, and to another man who had been charged with impaired driving just three days earlier.

Also at Wild Horse, officers arrested a returning Canadian resident on May 21 for failure to provide a breath sample, and transferred the traveller to Royal Canadian Mounted Police custody.

Officers at Coutts penalized three returning Alberta residents for failure to declare when importing horses:

On May 18, a woman declared a horse for US$15,000, but officers found she had actually paid US$40,000 and failed to declare the trailer she was towing, purchased for US$12,000. As she had attempted to evade nearly CAN$2,400 in goods and services tax, officers issued her a penalty of approximately $21,600.

That same day, another woman importing a horse failed to declare a horse therapy machine she had purchased for more than US$15,000, and was issued a penalty of CAN$4,850.On May 21, a third woman returning with a horse declared it as Canadian. However, officers found she had actually purchased the horse, valued at CAN$10,000, in the U.S., and issued a CAN$4,000 penalty.

Quick Facts

CBSA officers in southern Alberta process an average of 95,421 travellers in 15,788 cars, 12,424 commercial trucks, and 263 flights every month (based on 2015 statistics).